Starting Landscaping - Rare Earth Systems

akim997

New member
So I've decided to start landscaping now, and we are going with a company called Rare Earth Systems.  They are friendly guys (Chris Crary) and I'll track my progress and provide some photos along the way.  We also considered other companies such as West Coast Landcare, Go Pavers, and a few others.  Chris knows a lot about pavers, and has some good references and we'll build out through phases.  This is not a recommendation, but I'm just documenting a process with somewhat of a "new guy on the block".  We'll see where it goes.  Our design is pretty simple (not that much you can do with an Irvine box).
 
akim997 said:
So I've decided to start landscaping now, and we are going with a company called Rare Earth Systems.  They are friendly guys (Chris Crary) and I'll track my progress and provide some photos along the way.  We also considered other companies such as West Coast Landcare, Go Pavers, and a few others.  Chris knows a lot about pavers, and has some good references and we'll build out through phases.  This is not a recommendation, but I'm just documenting a process with somewhat of a "new guy on the block".  We'll see where it goes.  Our design is pretty simple (not that much you can do with an Irvine box).

I am speaking with West Coast Landcare now. What are your impressions? Any reason why you chose not to go with them?
 
Yes, design or at least pricing would be much appreciated.

I'm still struggling with trying to figure out what we're going to be able to afford to do with our lousy plot of dirt.

It doesn't seem such a small bit of land should be so darned expensive.
 
lucky said:
Yes, design or at least pricing would be much appreciated.

I'm still struggling with trying to figure out what we're going to be able to afford to do with our lousy plot of dirt.

It doesn't seem such a small bit of land should be so darned expensive.

Bigger plots of land quickly cost a midsize vehicle to do.  A small pergola depending on the material can cost $5000-$10000 alone, not including stone work and landscaping.
 
nosuchreality said:
lucky said:
Yes, design or at least pricing would be much appreciated.

I'm still struggling with trying to figure out what we're going to be able to afford to do with our lousy plot of dirt.

It doesn't seem such a small bit of land should be so darned expensive.

Bigger plots of land quickly cost a midsize vehicle to do.  A small pergola depending on the material can cost $5000-$10000 alone, not including stone work and landscaping.

I wonder how much it costs to take an AutoCAD class at IVC, do my own design and go to Home Depot.
 
@broda - That's a great plan, but the biggest part of the problem is not drawing the design; it's figuring out how much every combination of options costs including all the different types of pavers, seat walls, rock facades, flagstone, generic ground cover, square footage, trees, bushes, flowers, irrigation, low-voltage lighting, etc. as well as knowing what types of plants are allowed by the HOA and which will survive in which part of our yards that will have how much sunlight at what times of the year.

And so on...

There are so many variables and options and we don't know what all the possibilities are, let alone knowing all the ins and outs of each.

The biggest problem is everything we'd like to do will cost $20k which is outside our budget.
 
lucky said:
@broda - That's a great plan, but the biggest part of the problem is not drawing the design; it's figuring out how much every combination of options costs including all the different types of pavers, seat walls, rock facades, flagstone, generic ground cover, square footage, trees, bushes, flowers, irrigation, low-voltage lighting, etc. as well as knowing what types of plants are allowed by the HOA and which will survive in which part of our yards that will have how much sunlight at what times of the year.

And so on...

There are so many variables and options and we don't know what all the possibilities are, let alone knowing all the ins and outs of each.

The biggest problem is everything we'd like to do will cost $20k which is outside our budget.
Thanks for sharing info on landscaper.
He came by, and I had a long talk with him.  He told me he'll come back next day for measurement, but never did.  I guess he's not interested working on my yard.  This is the trend for me.  Two guys told me they'll come back with design and estimate, but never did.  One guy I talked to at my neighbor's yard he was working on flat out told me he's too busy.  I get a feeling that landscapers are now overloaded with works as builders are cranking out new homes as fast as they can.
 
I think you hit the nail on the head.

We're having a really hard time with all but one landscaper. It's like we're chasing them down to beg them to take our money, which is ridiculous. If we're paying over $10k (and closer to $20k), they should be at our beck and call, but of our 6 contractors, 1 came back with a design and price after we kept calling, 4 have measured and talked with us but have never gotten back to us after 2 weeks, and just 1 guy had ready a design and detailed estimate in 5 days with a follow-up 2-hour-long discussion.

It just makes you feel foolish (and angry) to keep meeting all these people and discussing all the details of your yard ideas only to have them all never talk to you again.
 
broda said:
in that case...AutoCAD class...drawing of grass...submit.  Plant Grass...save $$$$$$


:p

I've seen the drawings my landscaper submitted to the HOA.  You don't need to take an AutoCad class, just need to find a piece of paper an a crayon.
 
socaltrojan81 said:
akim997 said:
So I've decided to start landscaping now, and we are going with a company called Rare Earth Systems.  They are friendly guys (Chris Crary) and I'll track my progress and provide some photos along the way.  We also considered other companies such as West Coast Landcare, Go Pavers, and a few others.  Chris knows a lot about pavers, and has some good references and we'll build out through phases.  This is not a recommendation, but I'm just documenting a process with somewhat of a "new guy on the block".  We'll see where it goes.  Our design is pretty simple (not that much you can do with an Irvine box).

I am speaking with West Coast Landcare now. What are your impressions? Any reason why you chose not to go with them?

Overall impressions are good.  West Coast is a close second.  They've also done almost every house (it seems) in our neighborhood.  To be honest, some if it is just doing something different.  You can kind of tell the houses they do - similar plans, designs, etc.  It's not the case, but I'd think at this point I should get a deal, because everyone else has paid for the design work/ concepts... they just need to rinse and repeat with me. 

Dan is a friendly guy, not too pushy.  Talked to other owners' experience and its been pretty good with a few small complaints here and there. 
 
mitz501 said:
if you dont mind sharing plans & costs, i appreciate it. thanks

Overall cost has yet to be determined, because I haven't factored in plants yet.  As of right now, hardscape, demo and irrigation will cost about $13K.  Will post more of my plans later.  My problem is that I keep changing what I want in my own head.  That's in part why we chose Rare Earth, because they will go along with the flow. 
 
I would not worry about designs.  I think I saw that the designer our guy uses is charging like $150 for the drawings.  A drop in the bucket compared to everything else. 

Also, there are plenty of landscapers out there who will take your money... believe me.  The hard part is finding somebody good.  Hmmm.... I actually haven't heard back from Chris in a couple of days...  Hope this is not the start of something bad...
 
akim997 said:
Also, there are plenty of landscapers out there who will take your money... believe me.  The hard part is finding somebody good.  Hmmm.... I actually haven't heard back from Chris in a couple of days...  Hope this is not the start of something bad...
I agree, but who?  Who can I trust, has reasonable price, does a good job and communicates on timely manner?  I see a contractor who's doing my neighbor's yard, and he doesn't have a license, and I saw him shortcutting few things.
By the way, Chris never came back with quote on time, so I crossed him off my list.
 
Minimize the hardscape and you minimize the cost.  Irrigation from almost everybody seems to be $400-$700/zone range, more zones, lower end, less zones higher end, with a $1500 seeming to be minimum charge.

Maybe invest $20 in a suncalc sunmeter and check how much sun your yards really get.  Maybe do stepping stones with moss or another ground cover instead of pavers all the way down the sides.  If the house is oriented north-south, you'll get more sun than you think in the side yards.


 
Irvine_Dreamer said:
akim997 said:
Also, there are plenty of landscapers out there who will take your money... believe me.  The hard part is finding somebody good.  Hmmm.... I actually haven't heard back from Chris in a couple of days...  Hope this is not the start of something bad...
I agree, but who?  Who can I trust, has reasonable price, does a good job and communicates on timely manner?  I see a contractor who's doing my neighbor's yard, and he doesn't have a license, and I saw him shortcutting few things.
By the way, Chris never came back with quote on time, so I crossed him off my list.

We used Jefferson Rand and was very happy with them.  It's owned by an Asian woman and they have an in house landscape "designer".  Try giving them a call.  714-253-3167.
 
Irvine_Dreamer said:
akim997 said:
Also, there are plenty of landscapers out there who will take your money... believe me.  The hard part is finding somebody good.  Hmmm.... I actually haven't heard back from Chris in a couple of days...  Hope this is not the start of something bad...
I agree, but who?  Who can I trust, has reasonable price, does a good job and communicates on timely manner?  I see a contractor who's doing my neighbor's yard, and he doesn't have a license, and I saw him shortcutting few things.
By the way, Chris never came back with quote on time, so I crossed him off my list.

I highly recommend the gentleman we recently settled on.

At the moment this is our experience with and opinion of him:
- He is definitely very trustworthy and knowledgeable and has had his business for over 40 years.
- He is licensed and insured.
- He is very easy to get in contact with via phone. (He's not so technically inclined, so he doesn't answer emails or texts.)
- He drew up the first draft of the design Friday after the Monday we met him (last week).
- He is extremely relaxed, friendly, and patient. In fact, yesterday we took a 2 hour drive around Irvine neighborhoods together to look at other homes' landscaping so we could discuss what we we liked and didn't like.
- He will have our official design ready for submission to the HOA by today or tomorrow.
- He is very anti-cookie-cutter. He was very unhappy with all the streets we saw where he could tell the same landscaper did several of the houses because they all looked so similar. He insists on only putting his name on a nice, custom design.
- His price is lower than everyone else for the same design and he doesn't require any up-front deposit.

I can't recommend him enough, especially after dealing with ~6 other contractors, most of whom stopped calling back or just never called back at all (after taking the time to measure our yard even)!

If you phone him, I'd really appreciate if you would please be sure to tell him Rommel referred you. (My name is pronounced RAW-mull.) I very much want him to know how much we appreciate his efforts. :) (In fact, after our 2-hour drive yesterday my wife is planning to buy him a $50 gift card to express our gratitude.) His name is John and can be reached at 714.351.9071.
 
Back
Top